But Brady argues that robot-human collaboration at the Staten Island facility, which employs more than 2,000 people, has given them a "beautiful edge" over the competition.New York: Hundreds of orange robots zoom and whiz back and forth like miniature bumper cars, but instead of colliding, theyre following a carefully plotted path to transport thousands of items ordered from online giant Amazon. Since Amazon went all-in on robotics with the 2012 acquisition of logistics robot-maker Kiva, gains have been indisputable, Brady says.A young woman fitted out in a red safety vest, with pouches full of sensors and radio transmitters on her belt and a tablet in hand, moves through their complicated choreography. This robot ballet takes place at the new Amazon order fulfilment centre that opened on Staten Island in New York in September. Robotics and artificial intelligence bring clear benefits to humanity, in terms of our health, welfare, happiness and quality of life," said Lynch, who believes public policy has a key role to play in ensuring those benefits are shared, and that robotics and AI do not sharpen economic inequality.The high-tech vest, worn at Amazon warehouses since last year, is key to the whole operation, it allows 21-year-old Deasahni Bernard to safely enter the robot area, to pick up an object that has fallen off its automated host, for example, or check if a battery needs replacing.

"But its easier to predict the jobs that will be plastic injection molding machine Manufacturers lost than the jobs that will be created. What role do Amazon employees play in what Brady calls the human-robot "symphony?"At every stage, the goal is to "extend peoples capabilities" so the humans can focus on problem-solving and intervene if necessary, according to Brady.But despite Bradys enthusiasm for a robotic future, many are suspicious of the trend, a wariness that extends to the corporate giant, which this month scrapped high-profile plans for a new New York headquarters in the face of local protests.Attempts by Amazon employees to unionise, at Staten Island and other sites, have so far been successfully fought back by the company, further fuelling criticism.Many suspect Amazons investment in robotics centres aims to eventually automate positions currently held by humans.

For Kevin Lynch, an expert in robotics from Northwestern University near Chicago, the development of collaborative robots is "inevitable" and will indeed eventually eliminate certain jobs, such as the final stage of packing at Amazon for instance. "Its a myth that robotics and automation kills jobs, its just a myth," according to Brady. "The data really cant be denied on this: the more robots we add to our fulfilment centres, the more jobs we are creating," he said, without mentioning the potential for lost jobs at traditional stores."I also think other jobs will be created," he said."What used to take more than a day now takes less than an hour," he said, explaining they are able to fit about 40 per cent more goods inside the same footprint. For some, these fulfilment centres, which have helped cement Amazons dominant position in global online sales, are a perfect illustration of the looming risk of humans being pushed out of certain business equations in favour of artificial intelligence. "We are not robots, we are human beings," Long said.Amazon now counts more than 25 robotic centres, which chief technologist for Amazon Robotics Tye Brady says have changed the way the company operates.In an 80,000 square-meter (855,000 square-foot) space filled with the whirring sounds of machinery, the Seattle-based e-commerce titan has deployed some of the most advanced instruments in the rapidly growing field of robots capable of collaborating with humans.Theyve created 300,000 new jobs, bringing the total number of worldwide Amazon employees up to 645,000, not counting seasonal jobs. Bernard only has to press a button and the robots stop or slow or readjust their dance to accommodate her. "The real question is, how do we prepare for our future with robots?". At a press briefing held last month as part of the unionisation push, one employee of the facility, Rashad Long, spoke out about what he said were unsustainable work conditions."The growth of robotics and AI is inevitable," he said.He is convinced the use of "collaborative robots" is the key to future human productivity and job growth. At the age of 51, he has worked with robotics for 33 years, previously as a spacecraft engineer for MIT and on lunar landing systems of the Draper Laboratory in Massachusetts